[SoHoVe]

https://www.ktnv.com/news/contact-13...set-negligence


My thoughts go out to this family...seems the community was at fault for not keeping the equipment maintained.

The last sentence of the story though....homeowners could be on the hook for the expense of the settlement beyond what the HOA insurance policy covers....like tens of thousands per household????

Really...this should be pretty concerning to anyone in an HOA I would think.

How will this likely pan out?

[robr2]

If the attorneys want to collect the full amount, they will place a lien on each home in the community for the amount each homeowner owes and then wait it out for each to settle in some manner. I'm guessing they will as the HOA's insurance is only $2 million.

[Hughie]

Just wondering, how much did this kid weigh?

[WVREDLEG]

Swing set collapses on teen's head, jury orders Las Vegas HOA to - FOX5 Vegas - KVVU

According to the plaintiff's attorney, the HOA was offered settlements below the $20 million award. It is possible that even those settlements were more than the HOA general liability policy, but if I were a homeowner and found out the HOA and insurance carrier turned down a settlement the policy could cover, I would be beyond angry.

Who knows why the HOA rejected settlement offers? Maybe they expected liability to land on the playground equipment manufacturer or the installer or even the management company? PI lawsuits can have multiple defendants.

The HOA is allegedly going to appeal which means more legal expenses. They will get dumped by their insurance company and pay high risk rates to someone else...OR...they might win the appeal (I doubt it). Homeowners will bear these costs, too. Counter-suits and extended litigation are going to spook some home buyers.

It should concern everyone in a Homeowner Association--but apathy is sort of the norm until something happens. Personally, I attend meetings, read all correspondence and raise every issue I think needs the HOA's attention. Most people I know only interact with the HOA if dues go up, they are cited for a violation, or someone parks an old car in front of their house.

[BWNLV]

Will be impossible for any homes to be sold in that community until matter is resolved.

[Packrat1]

Not sure what the facts are in this case but gets back to "if you see something wrong say something". I bet many homeowners walked by that equipment in disrepair but didn't bother to say anything to the HOA or management company. If you see things broken, lights,sprinkler heads leaking or flooding, kids damaging property say something. Most just walk by.

[clutchcargo777]

We have a group of tweakers renting a house in our community. They have low-life people coming and going at all hours. Mattress's in the garage for people to sleep on (at times there are 15 people living there). They have been known to wander the streets with a cordless drill looking for houses to drill the deadbolt on. At one point they caught one of the bedrooms on fire but managed to put it out around by the time the fire trucks got there. Our HOA president has done everything in her power to get rid of them. She installed surveillance cameras to keep an eye on them (ironically, she lives right next door). Warned them, stickered the illegally parked cars, calls the police on them ALL the time. She's contacted the owners of the property several times with pictures but they don't seem to care that their house is being trashed as long as the section 8 check shows up each month.

As annoying and even scary as this all is, everyone in the community got a wake up call when they learned they will likely get sued when two of the landscapers got stuck by dirty needles when they were cleaning up around the house. The workers went to the hospital and were told they would have to keep coming back for a year to be tested for hep C and HIV.

I just don't see how all the law-abiding homeowners are on the hook for this but the scummy landlord is not responsible at all.

[yellowsnow]

Wow! Another reason I am glad I told my realtor no HOA's. How is any individual owner supposed to be able to keep up on maintenance of shared amenities? You can see how trusting the HOA worked out. Some of these developments are huge and yet the individual homeowners are going to be held responsible for stuff they never even see or maybe didn't even know was there. Will the homeowners individual insurance policies now pay?

I feel sorry for the child. You shouldn't expect to end up with brain damage from sitting on a swing set. But I feel bad for the homeowners too.

[Packrat1]

clutchcargo777 I feel your pain. Perhaps the HOA and the neighborhood needs to approach the situation differently. First go after section 8, there are specific rules regarding occupants receiving section 8 one of those is number of occupants allowed and also exclusion of specific people i.e. convicted DV offenders. Additionally people sleeping in the garage can be a code violation file a complaint with code enforcement.
Go through the CC&R's with a fine tooth comb and then start fining the crap out of the homeowner. Then start legal foreclosure proceedings.
This is a litigious city perhaps it's time to sue the homeowner civilly.

[BBMW]

I don't know that's it's so clear cut that the liability could be transferred to the individual homeowners. The HOA is likely it's own corporation. It owns the common areas of the development. Depending on the arrangement, it doesn't likely own the houses or land under the houses. Like the HOA would just declare bankruptcy, and both the plantiff and the homeowners would be parties to the bankruptcy case.